I’m sitting on the deck of my hotel room in Salmon Arm, BC, overlooking a bird sanctuary and marsh on the edge of the Shuswap Lake. I have been here for the the last four days, and have enjoyed watching the female osprey warm her eggs. She has no friends to meet, places to go, just a quiet commitment to her babies. The male comes and goes with sticks for the nest and food, although I haven’t seen the food exchange yet. A peaceful sight no doubt. As I also enjoy my Timmies steeped tea in the (finally) warm breeze, I feel my feet aching a bit, my hands feel a bit raw, and there is an general feeling of contentment and satisfaction from the weeks efforts. I visited 7 schools and did 9 presentations in four days, and have one last shop show in the area tomorrow at Skookum Cycle. Whew!

 

I often have students or teachers ask where I came up with the material I present, and I guess it’s a combination of reflection on my experiences combined with the critical thinking that goes along with reading books….yah, I’ve turned in to a bit of a nerd. I have had a few people ask if I have read or seen ‘The Secret’; I have fingered through the book out of curiosity, but am not convinced by some of the offerings, the main one being, and the real basis of the book, is that you create your own reality with your thoughts, or the law of attraction. For instance if you get raped it is because your thought patterns brought it about; now I have to disagree with that because crappy things do happen to good people. Sure there are some great things expressed in the book, but the suggestion that if you can keep only thoughts of being rich, that is what you will become…hmm, so does that go for those living in 3rd world countries? If you have read this book, but have a sort of funny feeling about it, I recommend reading this review by Julian Walker, or listening to the dialogue he had with Ken Wilber about the book.

 

I’m looking forward to spinning a bit on a cross country ride tomorrow before my show, it’ll be nice to mix it up a bit after so many trials shows. Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

 

 

 

 

Yesterday afternoon was my last show in Maine, and it was a public show, and it took place in the Camden Opera House. This beautiful venue was perfect for the event which included the showing of Manifesto, Trial and Error, and Crux; then a live demo, and a Q&A session to follow. The whole event was about 2 hours long; that’s a whole lotta Ryan time!

 

The best part of this trip was meeting and hanging out with so many great people. From Chris Christie the owner of Bikesenjava who thought of and organized the whole tour, to Ian who built all the demo obstacles, to Andrew who took care of the bike shop while Chris took me around, to Karl and John who both took a week of holiday to help set up and tear down, and drive the trailer; Chuck, Tanya, Gabe, Andy, Woody, and Steve for also helping with set up, Jeff at the snow bowl for helping with the Opera House venue, and Kaarie and Hayden who hosted us at their house; hopefully I didn’t miss too many names! The capacity of these Mainers to give their time for this tour was incredible; and I think it ultimately says a lot for a community that is willing to put others (in this case the students of the schools and cycling enthusiasts) ahead of their own needs that brings a community together, and ultimately creates a friendly neighborhood where good things can happen. For instance, it was rare that I saw anyone lock their vehicle, even if it had a bike in the back. The pace of life is rather laid back in mid coast Maine, yet everyone certainly knows the value of hard work. No trip to the Maine coast is complete without eating some local lobster, so Chris got the whole crew together for a cook up, very nice!!

 

I arrived home last night, (Caryn and I counted six Starbucks from gate to gate during our layover in the Chicago airport) and now sit in a hotel after a seven hour drive up to Revelstoke, BC, where I start the next week of schools which will consist of nine T.O.L. presentations and one bike shop show, whew!!

 

Go Barak, Peace Y’all,

 

Ryan

A few days ago I stopped in Williams Lake, BC while on tour and got chatting with a mountain biker who works for the Boys and Girls Club. Through the last decade or so he has been taking kids on mountain bike rides and getting them hooked on the sport. He invests his time with these kids, he hangs out with them, teaches them, and is real with them. He gets them in to the mountains on camping/bike trips so they can experience Nature. He has fun with them.

He was telling me that he has now been doing this for long enough to see kids that have gone from stealing cars as young lads to being hooked on riding, then on to making decent lives for themselves in the ‘real world’. How cool is that.

Another story the local bike shop owner in Smithers told me was of the ski coach in town; he had run an ski club for years and coached so many young athletes through the years. His title was perhaps ski coach, but in reality, his most important contribution was as a role model. Tragically he passed away from health issues, and at his funeral, they opened the floor up, and 30+ of his former club members came up and gave accounts on how much of a positive difference this man made in their lives.

These two examples are of people who invested their time with youth, and built relationships with them; they are incredible role models even if they don’t think themselves to be.

I endeavor to be a positive role model for the younger generation too, but my method is quite different from above. I tent to interact with large numbers of youth for a very short time. The interaction is often one way (me talking to them) whether it be at a 15 minutes long show, or an hour long school presentation; sometimes I get to know a student or two that help me set up, and again, that is very short lived. Or maybe I go on a mountain bike ride with a school group, and hang out with them for a bit, again, very brief. I am hopeful these brief interactions are inspirational in some way , otherwise I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing; but I’m curious as to whether speaking to large groups of students for shorter periods is as beneficial compared to spending a longer time with just a few individual students. I know the circumstances and values of each approach are unique and both offer positives, but nonetheless I’m curious. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

I am sitting here in the McBike Shop in Smithers, BC, catching up on some e-mail after presenting at two schools today, one high school and one elementary.

So depending on the age of the students, I change some of my speech and the tone in which I present. But for the younger grades, I imagine much of what I say goes right over their heads. That doesn’t worry me too much though, I think it’s my actions, and the way I present myself that does translate through for them. It is much like parenting I guess, no matter how often and firmly you tell your children something that you don’t do yourself; they won’t adopt the lesson.  The ‘ol ‘do as I say, not as I do’ adage.

On a totally different note, Caryn and I just finished renovating our bathroom, so we were without a shower in the house for about a month, so it wasn’t so convenient to have a quick shower whenever we wanted. During this time I think I averaged about 3 showers a week! As far as I know I’m not offending anybody with terrible body odor, nor do I all of a sudden appear scruffy to those I interact with during the day (except when I don’t shave), so I started thinking about the necessity of showering…..can’t believe I’m blogging about showers…

Most people I know shower once a day, and I know plenty of people that actually have to shower to wake up in the morning, then again later on to wash the days grime away. Whew! Back 50 years ago or more, the story was different, the odd bath here and there was all that was needed. For active people like you and myself, we have to be careful; a hard day of working out or a messy mountain bike ride, and a quick shower is a good thing. But it seems we have become a shower-crazed society, so I thought I’d come up with just a few reasons to perhaps skip a shower or two:

-an average shower uses 160 Liters of water

-it takes a lot of energy to heat all that water

- it takes a lot of commercial product to wash skin and hair that probably doesn’t need washing day in and day out

-your body has to work overtime to produce oils for the skin only to be washed off over and over again, skin can get rather dry this way….but of course you can buy product to solve that problem…

-all that product goes down the drain

-that extra half hour you save can be used to work on your wheelies outside the front door

That concludes my shower blurb….more from my BC road trip soon.

January 5th Many of us are now settling in to the new year, back to school, back to work, back to routine, and for me, back to riding!! For one month I didn’t ride trials; snuck in a few mountain bike rides, but no trials! I’m just getting in to the groove again as I have a demo coming up next week, and so kicks off my 2008 season!!

I have had some time over the holidays to allow my intentions for the season to form, and one of the areas that I hope to continue developing is my Trials of Life program. The children of today will shape the future of tomorrow, and with a world that is changing so fast, it seems vital that we be sure children have the framework to make sure that change is toward a positive, sustainable world. This is a deep and complicated topic, but one I’m excited to explore.

My sponsorship roster for the year is solid; I’m excited to be on the Norco Factory Team for the 11th year in a row! Shimano has re-signed with me for another two seasons and Marzocchi is customizing some forks for me as we speak. This will also be my tenth season with Ryders Eyewear, and Mace Clothing polishes off the package. I am one fortunate dude to have so many great people to work with!!

I’m building up my new Fluid LT, just waiting for my forks and a package from Shimano, should be a pretty swank bike! This ride will travel with me all over the place, and I’m looking forward to many pedal powered adventures.

I have a new website being designed right now, and will have that live in a month or two. My blog/newsletter will be redesigned allowing me to include more photos, video, and writing topics from my travels. Talking about writing, keep an eye out in Mountain Biking magazine for my column on living a green mountain biking lifestyle.

Have an awesome year everyone!! Ryan

Just sitting here sipping my second cup of tea, and having a chill day at home. I’m going to try and rest for a few days after a fantastic tour in Victoria on Vancouver Island.

Alex and I had the official CRUX world premier on the 15th. Here’s a short video of the evening compliments of rip.tv. Then I hopped on a plane with Ben Boyko to check out United Cycles Bike Expo in Edmonton. When I got home I quickly grabbed my truck and trailer and hopped on a ferry to the Island in what was the start of an 8 school Trials of Life mini tour.

What a fantastic week of presentations, I had a blast and felt a great connection with the students. Big thanks to Mike at Russ Hays bike shop, Karl at Oak Bay bike shop, and Liz Wiebel, for helping coordinate and schedule schools and media for the week. Such a fantastic riding scene in Victoria!! Talking about the riding scene, I agreed to go on the Oak Bay bikes Thursday night ride. Turns out it was pretty much a road/mountain bike race, and I got worked!! These guys have been doing these rides for 17 years, and never miss a Thursday. Whew, first time I bonked hard since my cross-country racing days over 11 years ago!!

We had another great Crux premier in Victoria at the Fernwood Pub, great venue that my old trials riding buddy Mike Colwill operates. Great turn out, good vibe. Seeya!

Just wanted to share some final thoughts from my Trials of Life Canadian Tour, so here’s an article I just wrote. Today’s children are our future generation; with all the pressures placed upon students, it has become difficult for them to follow their heart and choose the path that feels right to them. With all the challenges today’s world is facing, it is more important than ever that our children have a clear vision for their future.

With help from The Co-operators, I was able to use my unique and fortunate position as a professional mountain biker to relate to these children. It all started with a chance invitation to a local school to talk about my career. I noticed that these students were hanging on my every word, so I decided to put some more energy into creating a higher quality speech. After a few more classroom talks, I had the opportunity to give a keynote speech to an entire school, so I thought why not combine the speech with my mountain bike show; thus was born my Trials of Life presentation.

With the thumbs up from my bike sponsors, I started scheming towards a Canadian school tour. Following through with such an extensive trip required commitment from a high level sponsor. Right from the start, The Co-operators believed in my cause, and underwrote the entire journey, making it possible for me to give my 50 minute long presentation to 27 different schools; and also to perform at 17 public shows along the way.

The 17,500 km long, carbon neutral tour from coast to coast to coast, seemed to be a magnet for media. With over 30 print articles and close to 20 TV and radio interviews, the coverage was deep. This at the same time gave me the opportunity to spread the word even deeper, and if anything, get people thinking about bikes as a way toward fitness and family fun.

Personally I learned a great deal from this journey; I presented to a variety of ages, income levels, and city sizes; the receptions I received were both inspiring and intriguing. Having to adapt to different situations and circumstances at different venues was always exciting and challenging. Some of the best moments came from chatting and hanging out with the students after the presentation; hearing their direct feedback made it clear that this is a journey I must continue, and I am no doubt motivated to do just that!! 

Ryan

Whew! My Trials of Life Tour is complete!! Over two months on the road. 27 school presentations. 17 bike shop or festival demonstrations. 17,761 km’s driven (fully offset through Climate-Friendly). Huge thanks to my official tour sponsor, The Co-operators.

I met so many amazing people on this tour, whether it be students, teachers, shop owners, sponsors, or random riders I met at gas stations in the middle of no where. Just a few shout outs and thank you’s from this whirlwind tour…..

Trials rider Scott at Gericks in Cranbrook for lunch…Lon in Lethbridge for noticing and fixing my burned out trailer light and then trying to set me on fire with a curry dish at a Thai Hut; his shop crew at Ascent Cycle was key…Jennifer at Bikewerx in Lacombe for the Keg dinner even though we had to wait 2 hours for a table!…Fred & Lorraine at High Five in Lacombe for dragging 7 sets of bleachers on to a closed main street for my show and their son Devin for helping me at the schools…Rob Reid in Lacombe for the night stay and home cooked meal; not to mention the back up ‘to go’ mug he gave me when I lost my prized Norco one…Glenn Bohey from the Co-operators for believing in my tour and making this all happen for me, the lunch at Moxies in Regina in person was great!…Jay Blackmore has huge plans, totally believe in his cause and the home cooked breakfast was a treat too…Darcy at Blocks, you’ve been a supporter for so long, thanks for the shop show and dealing with my forks…David and family from North Bay for the great ride on home built trails, the jet boat ride, home cooked Salmon meal and nights stay on the lake…Alex for the volunteered groundwork and dialling in a school visit to his old high school, see you in BC bro…Andrew from St. Joseph’s-Scollard, hang in their buddy, and spread your passion…Joe and Gary in Mactaquac park in NB for the hook up and souvanirs…Matt and Dan from Savages for lunch at the Hilltop, the Mexican joint, and of course the home cooked pasta, still working on my guitar cords buddy…Kevin and Nicole for the Hilton Hotel hook-up, largest living all tour, the comp fruit platter upon arrival was golden…Jason, Lisa-Marie, Simon, and Sylvie for being such an great family and hosting Caryn and I, we loved Moncton…the kid in Miramichi that made a new support foot for my all important high jump bar, you’re a life saver, seriously…Bill and Becky in Darlings Island for a great shop show and dinner…Paul for helping at all 4 Maritime shop demos…John and keith from the Peterborough Police department, your commitment and dedication to The Cops for Cancer Pedal for Hope tour is incredible. Hanging out with you and your team was inspirational and loads of fun. Huge thanks to the entire crew for helping set up my gear and tear down five times…Glen, thanks for hosting me at your place and spotting me 10 bucks for a clean trailer…Ex NHL’er John Druse for having the Pedal for Hope crew over at the lake for a great BBQ and yah, my body still hurts from the tubing session behind the boat…Scott, love the new screwdriver…Greg from Shimano for cruising to all four schools and helping out, and for dialling in the great media and press conference…the whole Shimano crew in Peterborough is positive and spoiled me with support, parts, clothes, and food, you guys rock…Elie at Impala Bikes in Whitby for the BBQ…Martin at First Cycleworks in London, wow buddy, you’re the king of custom choppers, and have one heck of a Norco shop to boot; your kindness and enthusiasm for the event was amazing, thanks for everything buddy…Dan Hay, hey, I’ve been with Norco longer than you, ha…Dash and Hollse in Muskoka, thanks for the amazing meal, your parents are so kind, it was fun to see you guys at home and at school…Rob Dennys, your cottage on the lake was delightful, thanks for lining up the Bracebridge demo and scoring me a free trailer flat fix…Ryan and Cole at Island Lakes School in Winnipeg, props for setting up my TOL presentation, and thanks for doing pre-presentations to all the classrooms, you guys are amazing…Bruce Penner, can’t believe Altona was one of the most rockin’ demos, for a town of 3000 people, and only a few days notice, blew me away, glad that twister didn’t though…my friends at Bikes and Beyond, George, the new Manifesto frame rocks, thanks for building it, Phil, the BBQ was great, and the evening cruise with Caryn in the pedal car was so romantic!…Robin Harvey, my North Van based tour co-ordinator, thanks for organising all these random places and dates in to a tour that flowed so smoothly, the media you helped generate was incredible!!

Whew! Here’s my second to last video blog on Norco’s Website. Overall, I’m deeply satisfied with this whole endevour, an incredible journey that I’ll remember forever. My ‘visit’ home was just a tease, gotta pack up and head to Silverstar Mountain in Vernon BC for Norco’s VPS festival, free riding up the lifts for all Norco owners, lets go ride some bikes and have some fun!!!

Peace out, Ryan

Day 8 of my tour has just come to an end, and it ends in Regina. So far I have presented to 8 schools, and performed at 2 bike shops. I know my journal message is being reposted in various places, so for those that don’t know what my school presentation is all about, check out the new web site, www.trialsoflife.com.After the last post, some people thought I was camping during the whole tour, not quite the case, but when I have a spare chance to visit a nice provincial park, I’ll take it! Check out the picture below for the reason why, ahhhhhhh.  I have used a few different GPS navigation systems, and they just keep getting better. I have a new Garmin that has been nearly 100% so far, just love it. Punch in the school address, and it leads you right there. I was able to sit back and cruise along some nice highways from Alberta to Saskatchewan, here’s a pic that wraps the prairies up nicely. My motto for this tour is “never turn down a home cooked meal”. I’m fortunate to have had one already, and overall just blown away by all the kind, and generous people I have met and dealt with so far. Whether it be a bike shop owner, school student, teacher, bike enthusiast, gas station attendant, principal, or journalist, I have to say, there are some pretty cool people around. So thanks to all those who have been so gracious with me!!Regina is the head office home of my tours title sponsor, The Co-operators. There is lots going on while I’m here, so I’m going to get some rest. Most will read this tomorrow, so Happy Thursday everyone!!Ryan